Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Sometimes lightning does strike twice. The low mileage Corrado SLC that we featured last month was one of those cars you just don’t come across very often. Or was it? Here comes another mint condition Corrado SLC for sale in California from our reader Christian. He bought the car from its original owner, it has covered just over 52,000 miles and it’s red. Do sport coupes from the 1990s get any better than this?
Our lineup has recently been bolstered by contributing author Pablo, a wealth of information on all things front-engined, water-cooled Porsches. One of the models he really touts as the best development of this setup is the 968, and it’s easy to see why. With near perfect balance, great looks, daily-driver practicality and a very flexible engine, the 968 was a package that could actually be enjoyed on both road and track. Unlike their rear-engined counterparts from the same time period, values have not yet taken off in a frenzy; this means that you can get one of the best packages out of the box from Porsche for a relative steal. But the 968 is still a Porsche, and as Pablo has outlined as the miles creep up on 968s the potential repairs to the engine can get quite expensive. Therefore, while it’s tempting to jump into a $10,000 car with some miles on the clock, that price could easily be doubled quickly in maintenance that was deferred due to expense by the previous owners. Perhaps, then, the answer is the best, low mileage example you can find:
Edit: One of our Facebook readers – Steve – correctly noted that this is Capri Green and was an 8V Golf to start out. In some ways, that makes it better that a real 2.0 GTi wasn’t sacrificed, though my feelings about most of the modifications stay the same. Thanks Steve, and sorry for the mistake!
I’m fairly certain that with the right backing and skillful marketing I could pitch a show to one of those crappy cable networks. My premise? Take a car that has been modified and return it to OEM or OEM+ standards. Seriously, when talking about rare cars, aren’t there buyers for these rides? Don’t there seem to be lots of people endlessly browsing the internet looking for that hidden, unmodified and well-cared for gem that rarely surfaces? Heck, it’s what we’ve built a fair amount of our writing around. And even though there are plenty of people pining for original BMWs, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche models, there’s a special lot that love original Volkswagens. One of the biggest reasons they long for these “unicorn” models is that so few were properly cared for, and many of those that were have been modded within an inch of their life. Take the Mk.II GTi; a solid performing replacement for the “original” hot hatch. It’s near legendary status is well cemented in the halls of automotive history, and it’s even one of the few models that carries brand awareness outside of motoring circles. Seriously, even people who know almost nothing about cars know what a GTi is. Within the Mk.II crowd, there are several limited models that the U.S. didn’t receive, so our top of the heap has to be the 1990-1992 16V edition. With a close-ratio gearbox, revised and better integrated smooth big bumpers, the best set of BBS wheels and Recaro seats ever fitted to a Volkswagen and one stunner of a revy 2 liter inline-4, it was an awesome package. Specify it in Montana Green, and you’ve got the crowds drooling. Then someone goes and does this:
Ever hear the story of George Washington’s famous axe that cut down the cherry tree? It’s something called Theseus’ Paradox, and it’s a question of whether an object remains original in the effort to preserve it. In the case of George Washington’s axe, both the head and handle had been replaced several times but it was still claimed to be “the axe” used by Washington. Occasionally we see such things with road cars, but much more often it appears with race cars, as is the case with today’s 968. These cars were intended to be raced, and they were – hard. Rubbing, bumps, bruises and crashes amongst race cars are fairly common – just look at the Formula One race from this past weekend – it seemed that nearly every corners one was banging into another. So, here was have a early 968 built for the Firehawk series, but then crashed heavily and re-tubbed. Is it still the same car?
Fans of the Audi V8, rejoice! I know there are a few more than just me out there and we always love seeing a clean example of one of the best bits of Audi engineering in history. Sure, there are more significant Audi models, but the V8 certainly deserves to be amongst the top 5. Many view it as an overly complicated, underpowered car – and indeed, in 3.6 automatic form as it was originally received in the U.S., the V8 felt a bit flat. But let’s not forget that Audi reinvigorated what was already an aging chassis to make it feel remarkably fresh. They brought for the first time an automatic gearbox to all-wheel drive, opening an entirely new market share for Audi and making a real contender in the large executive market. But for motorsport fans, the real meat of the Audi V8 meal was the sporting potential of the manual models. It’s often overlooked, but the V8 was a remarkable performer, especially in manual 4.2 version. Today’s example doesn’t have that magical setup, but even in less powerful 3.6 form the car was plenty potent when tied to a 6-speed manual: